€23m seized in 6 months

DRUGS valued at €23 million were seized by gardaí during the first half of this year, prior to this week’s unprecedented cocaine seizure off the Cork coast.

Figures obtained by the Irish Examiner show gardaí seized a third more heroin compared to the first half of 2006, while other drug amounts remained relatively similar to the same period last year.

Gardaí revealed that up to 60kg in heroin was recovered by the end of June, much of which was from four large scale raids.